1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical pipe fitting and, more particularly, to an electrical pipe fitting with an integral fixture for securing a grounding wire.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electrical pipe is often used for routing electrical wires in commercial and residential installations. In order to meet present day municipal code requirements, the electrical pipe must be grounded, and fixtures must be provided to electrically connect grounding wires to the grounded electrical pipe.
As shown in FIG. 1, the typical solution is to provide a clamp-on fixture consisting of a base 2 and a U-shaped pipe clamp bracket 4 which are secured around a pipe using screws 6 and 8. A portion 10 of the base 2 receives a grounding wire 11 which is held in grounded connection with the base by screw 12. A section 14 of the base may be used to secure a wire clamping bracket 16 over the grounding wire 11 using screws 18 and 20.
The clamp-on fixture illustrated in FIG. 1 suffers from several setbacks, including: (1) the ground connection is subject to failure, for example, if the clamp-on fixture should become loose; (2) the fixture adds expense and physical bulk to any given installation, requiring separate pieces of hardware which must be purchased, kept in stock and secured around the pipe or connector; (3) the clamp-on fixture adds to the time involved and increases the chance of error during the installation, involving several steps in order to secure and apply the grounding connection; and (4) the clamp may cause the electrical pipe, or conduit, to crimp.
Although U.S. Pat. No. 4,106,832 to Burns discloses an electrical ground fixture including a pipe section with an integral clamp, it is designed to electrically couple a grounding wire to a grounded water pipe system of a building. Significantly, the fixture of the Burns patent is not designed to provide a grounding connection for an electrical pipe system to meet today's building and electrical codes.